A kitsune's love
by Shadow Kitsune girl
Summary: All of the Makai is on alert.Shura, the son and heir of Lord Yomi,is missing.With no idea where his son is, Yomi ventures in his search only to stumble upon one of the most beautiful creature he has ever seen,a kistune named Youko Kurama. Rating will grow
1. Chapter 1

All the Makai was in alert. Shura,the son and heir of Lord Yomi, one of the three rulers of the Makai was missing. Demons were looking for him. Yomi tried to seem calm but inside he was worried more than he had ever been. Although Shura was actually a clone, his clone, he was still his son and he couldn't help being worried about him. And then again, there was the other problem about Shura's disappearance. If someone would find the boy, namely one of the servants and allies of the other two rulers of the Makai he could be forced to pay a ransom or even exchange his throne for the boy. This indeed was a delicate matter. Yomi had split his army into troops and sent them searching his territory. He himself was leading a small group on horses. They were currently searching in one of the most dangerous and overgrown forests on Yomi's domain.

The group of demons stuck close to one another not wanting to find out what deadly secrets the forest hid. The trees were monstrous in size, imposing and their tops were not in sight. They seemed to have been there since the Makai began its life. There were vines that hanged from high above and looked like they were just waiting for someone to get too close. In short, the whole forest seemed hostile to any intruders.

Yomi's thoughts drifted off to his son. But suddenly one of his six ears twitched when he picked up a faint sound. It seems there was some activity going on in the area. He made his horse slow down a bit and directed everyone's attention to a small path in front of them. They went along the path until the tree trunks seemed to be making a clearance right in the middle of the forest. They stopped their horses at the edge of the clearance. There was certainly a lot going on in the clearance. A large number of demons it seemed from almost every kind were moving about. And then Yomi spotted a chubby and bald demon in the middle, who was holding a whip in one of his clawed hands and yelling at the other demons.

"Slave traders", Yomi thought. And he was right. His eyes studied through the crowd to see if maybe his boy was there. But all he could see was teenagers and adults, not a single child. There were some very attractive demons but most of the others seemed to be starving and very unclean. He led his horse to the demon that seemed to be the master of the slaves. As he did so all of the demon slaves stopped moving about and cleared the path for Yomi.

"Ah, Lord Yomi! What a pleasure!" The chubby demon said almost mockingly and with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes. Yomi's eyes narrowed.

"Let's skip the pleasantries, shall we?I want to know if you've seen Shura, my son." Yomi said calmly while getting of his horse. The other demons from his group started looking around for the boy.

"I'm sorry to say that no, I haven't seen your boy. We've been here for just a couple of weeks" the demon said.

Yomi sighed heavily. His son seemed to have been swallowed by the nothingness. And he, his father could not find him. Yomi turned his head to look at the slaves and for his group.

"Maybe I can interest you in one of my slaves.I have some very beautiful ones" the demon said watching Yomi's eyes.

"No", was Yomi's simple answer. "Leave me to think" he added massaging his temples. The demon left hurriedly not wanting to attract the wrath of one of the most powerful demons in the Makai.  
Yomi's violet eyes were scanning the crowd for Shaachi, his general when something…or rather someone caught his eyes. It was a beautiful demon althought he couldn't tell witch kind the demon was right away. He has golden-like honey eyes, had furry ears on his head, a brown furry tail and his hair seemed to be a dirty brownish color. But what was more important, it seemd that the demon wanted Yomi to follow him somewhere. He kept turning his head to look at the forest and then back at Yomi.

"I have nothing to lose" Yomi said to himself and started following the demon but careful so that nobody actually saw him leave. He hurried into the forest and caught up with the beautiful demon who seemed to be leading him somewhere.

"Where are you taking me?" Yomi asked in a calm voice.

"To your son" Was the simple, smooth reply.

Yomi stopped dead in his tracks….his…his son? He was here? But how?...and Who…? There were a thousand questions going through his mind at the moment but he remained silent. Then he got closer to the demon and grabed him by the shoulders turning him around. He was looking into those golden eyes that were the most beautiful he had ever seen only to see a lot of sadness, hurt and a bit of fear in them. "He is so profound" Yomi thought. He realized that his hands were clenched quite hard on the demon's shoulders and gently let go of him. The minute he did that the demon seemd to relax.

"How do you know he is my son?" Yomi asked after what seemed like an eternity of slience.

"He looks just like you, Lord Yomi" the demon answered in the same silky voice.

Yomi seemed to ponder.

"Where did you find him?" he asked calmly looking into the other's golden eyes.

"In a clearance near here. He was hurt and I didn't want that bald idiot to turn him into a slave".

"He's hurt?" Yomi asked panicked. He new that Shura was tough but if he was injured and alone…

The demon started walking again and after about 10 feet turned to look at Yomi.

"Coming?" He asked. As he was preparing to start walking again Yomi asked him:

"What benefits do you get from saving my son?"

The demon turned to Yomi completely his brown ears turned forward and simply replied:

"Nothing at all."

Yomi was stunned. "This is a trap" he kept telling himself. But his steps carried him forward, and soon enough he caught up with the beauty as he had named the demon.

"What kind of demon are you?" Yomi asked curios.

"A kitsune" the other demon replied.

"No wonder" Yomi thought. "He's very attractive" he thought sizing the demon up. After a while they reached the entrance to a cave. Yomi raised one of his eyebrows at the young demon.

"He's inside" the young kitsune said.

Yomi was thinking this over. If he went first he could get trapped in but if he went after the demon could easily turn around and attack him. He sensed that the kitsune was quite powerful but he knew that he was superior in strengths. He motioned to the kitsune to lead the way. Which he did. After a bit of time had passed Yomi suddenly felt a familiar aura coming from the front. His heart was pounding in his chest. Was this Shura? Was he really alive? And if he was how badly injured was he?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Reunited

_**Chapter 2: Reunited**_

As they reached the end of the cave Yomi spotted a tiny figure resting against the wall. His heart stopped beating for a moment. Was the boy…dead? But before his eyes could tell, his ears picked up the sound of breathing coming from the figure. It was quite dark and Yomi had no way of telling if it was indeed Shura. "Is this the trap?" Ymo thought. He passed by the kitsune and walked towards the wall.

"Papa?" A small voice came his way. Yomi stoped stunned. It really was Shura!

The boy reached out his hands for Yomi and Yomi went the pick up his boy. If he was not in the presence of a total stranger, he would have probably started to cry right there. He hugged Shura tightly and breathed relieved. His boy was alive. He looked his son over and discovered that indeed he had a broken arm and a few scratches but other than that he was ok.

Shura was happy that he had finally been found by his dad. His broken arm didn't matter right now…

"Who did this to you?" Yomi asked looking at the boy in his arms.

"I don't know Papa. I was reading in my room and I thought I heard something move by me and when I turned to see what it was, everything went black." The boy said remembering.

Yomi frowned. Not even his castle was safe. With all the guards he had in and around the building something like this shouldn't have happened. He was going to have to have a little talk with Youda about this. It was unacceptable. As he was thinking of this he realized that the kistune was still there. He looked over his shoulder and tunred around to face the young demon. The kistune was watching them with a small smile on his delicate lips. Yomi was amazed at the kindness he saw in the demon's eyes. He looked down at Shura.

"Have you been treated good?" he asked watching the kistune from the corner of his eyes.

"Yes Papa" the boy replied. "Kurama has been bringing me food every couple of hours and he took care of my arm. It's not as bad as it used to be. When he first brought me here I couldn't even move it but now…" the boy looked at his right arm and flexed it. He looked back up at his father smiling. "So his name is Kurama…, that's a very beautiful name…" Yomi thought.

"I am very thankful for everything you have done for me and my son" Yomi said to the kitsune.

"I'm just glad Shura's alright and that you managed to find him. Ummm….I think we can leave the cave" Kurama said swishing his brown tail from side to side.

Yomi nodded and started going on the same path he came into the cave. All the way the feeling that something bad might happened didn't leave him. "Maybe this is what he wanted…to have us both in his reach and kill us…" Yomi thought to himself. But as the minutes passed and the road became more lighted the kistune did nothing that he could have found dangerous.

Having gotten out of the cave Yomi stopped. He watched as Kurama followed shortly and stopped taking in a breath of air. The kitsune looked at the father and son.

"Well….I have to go… It would be too suspicious if I'm gone for too long…"

"But how did you manage to get so far…if you're… if you've been captured?" Yomi refrained from calling him a slave. "It's the least I can do for him he thought".

"We have chips. Implanted in the back of our necks. They show our position and they can even apply electric shocks if we try to escape" Kurama replied looking at the ground. He hated being a slave… hated not having freedom…

"Well, it was nice meeting you Lord Yomi" Kurama said taking a small bow. "You two Shura" he added nodding toward the boy. Shura smiled sadly. He didn't like the fact that his savior had to be left here with all those mean demons.

Kurama turned and headed back to the slave camp.

"Goodbye… Kurama…." Yomi said watching the kistune walk away.

For a bit of time, both father and son lay motionless looking into the distance where only a small spot of brown indicated where Kurama was. Yomi got out his communicator and called for his group to come for him. He flared his demon energy and his second in command and army knew how to find them. And weren't they surprised to see Shura sitting calmly in his father's arms.

The way back to the castle gave Yomi time to think. He felt a tinge of guilt for having to leave Kurama there after the kistune had been so kind as to take care of his son. And there was the issue of security. How could someone had gotten in the castle without the guards noticing? A sparkle went through his body. What if he shouldn't worry about someone from the outside? What if someone from the inside had planned this? Was this the kidnapper's intention? To get them away from the castle? Or…

"Shura?" Yomi asked looking at his son's head who was sitting in front of him on the horse.

"Yes Papa?" Shura asked tilting his head to look his father in the eyes.

"Do you remember anyting? Were you left in the forest or…?"

"No" the boy replied frowning. "I was carried in a bag. I couldn't see anything. I tried to move to get out of the bag but someone was yelling at me not to move anymore. And when I didn't listen they threw the bag to the ground and I broke my arm. And after a couple of hours I think… the one carrying me got agitated. That's when I first heard Kurama. He fought with whoever was carrying the back and I was dropped to the ground. Kurama got me out of the bag and took me to the cave where you found me. He took care of me…he even gave me all the food he got."

Yomi was stunned.

"How do you know this?"

"I could feel him growing weaker. He hasn't eaten anything for almost a week" Shura said sighing.

The remaining part of the road to the castle was walked in silence. Even the horses seemed to smell the tension in the air. Yomi was quite convinced that someone from inside his castle had planned this. The only question was who?

"Yomi, you old fool" Yomi laughe bitterly to himself "Not even now, not even with all the 1000 years of life you have, you do not have enough experience to pick your allies. You don't even now who to trust and who not to."

His mind drifted off to Kurama. Yomi was determined to go back to the slave camp the following day and buy the kistune. He would set the boy free and give him some money to start a new life.

Yomi lifted his gaze and smiled slightly when the castle, his castle came into view. He had decided what to do for the next day and he told himself he was going to be more careful about things going on around his castle…


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: Lost**_

"Yoda!", Yomi's voice echoed through the halls of his palace.

"Yes, sire?" Yoda, Yomi's councilor asked heading towards his lord.

"From now on, Shura sleeps in my room. Get someone to move his bed to my room. And name extra guards to stand watch. If anything like this ever happens again heads will roll." Yomi said in a grave tone. But he was right. He had to be careful in his own castle now. A traitor was lurking, waiting to make his move again.

Yomi carried Shura to his room and put him on the bed. Shura was fast asleep now. He covered the boy with a blanket and stood up. He closed his eyes and drew a breath of air. For a moment, the world seemed to stay still, time seemed to have stopped for a mere second. When he opened his eyes, he realized how relieved he was that Shura was safe and back home. His mind wondered to the beautiful kitsune he had met.

"Mmmm….Kurama was his name" Yomi mused. He realized how much he owed the kitsune.

"He's different. Would probably make a good advisor or councilor." The Makai lord thought.

For now, everything was back to normal and the silence of a Gandarian spring night loomed over the palace.

The next morning, Yomi awoke to find his son curled next to him. He smiled and covered the boy better with the blanket and then slipped out of the bed. The orange ball had not yet fully made its way up onto the clear blue sky. Yomi made his way to his desk and sat down. He decided to go and buy Kurama. But he had to be careful. This needed planning. If the traitor found out he was gone he may try something again and this time he was quite sure there wasn't going to be a happy ending. While he was pondering on the matter the door to the room slowly opened and Yoda entered bringing the newspaper. He bowed his head, handed the newspaper to Yomi and left.

At first Yomi ignored the paper but then the title on the front page caught his eye and he frowned while reading the article. It seemed there had been a mutiny at a slave camp and one of the slaves had killed the slave owner and set free all of the other slaves. And this had happened in…Yomi went pale. It was in the forest where he has met Kurama. He dropped the newspaper and his eyes glazed over.

"You idiot." He told himself. "If you had bought him yesterday this wouldn't have happened. He would have been safe. Who knows if he's even still alive." He sighed heavily. Apparently thing weren't going so well recently.

Suddenly his ears picked up a faint sound and he turned around smiling. Shura had just woke up and had a cute pouting face. His hair was springing out in every direction while he was stretching his small arms and smiled to his "papa".

Yomi didn't mention anything about the news to Shura. He was sure the boy would be upset. They ate breakfast in silence. Yomi seemed lost in thought and Shura didn't want to disturb him. He noticed something was bothering him but didn't insist.

A couple of weeks had passed since Yomi had met and lost Kurama. On a clear day he took Shura to one of the forests on his domain. He wanted to teach his son a new technique and needed the space to practice. While speeding up to make copies of himself Yomi saw something on his path. e slowed down justHe

He slowed down just in time. Something bumped quite hard into him. He looked down into a mass of brown. Then two startled honey-golden eyes made contact with him. And then it him him! Those eyes, the brown hair and the ears and tail…this was Kurama!

Kurama looked up panting at Yomi. Yomi figured he must have been running from something. Just then yelling was heard coming from where Kurama had come. The kitsune turned around heart pounding and wanted to make his way around Yomi and continue to run. But just as he was passing the Makai lord he was grabbed by the arm and brought behind Yomi.

"Stay still" Yomi told him then turned to look on the path.

A group of about 20 demons everything from the wakest to some very powerful ones stopped in their tracks when they saw Yomi. Yomi thought that Kurama had been to weakened to try and fight. He didn't even know if the boy new how to fight. The demons stood still but then one of the strongest of them came forth.

"Give us the kistune, Yomi. He's nothing but a weak, powerless being. He's no good. Give him to us. We' ll just have a little fun with him and then kill him" the demon said smirking while the others were laughing maliciously, their eyes fixed on Kurama.

Yomi heard Kurama growl behind him but made a sign to keep quiet. The kitsune listened and stood still angrily watching his followers.

"If you think you're going to get your filthy hands on him you can think again. You have no idea of the boy's worth. I'm going to give you a single chance. Start running now and I'll spare your lives. Otherwise your heads will soon stand where your feet are" Yomi said in a low menacing tone.

Some of the demons, weak or maybe smarter turned and fled. About twelve remained and got into attack positions. Kurama prepared to fight if he had to but a quick reassuring glance from Yomi told him not to worry about a thing. And in a flash it was all over. Yomi had sent a wave of his energy and it sliced the remaining demons. Their bodies crashed to the ground and blood was spilt everywhere. The kitsune watched in awe how those who were planning to kill him now lay motionless on the ground. His ears twitched as he lifted his gaze and met that of Yomi. Yomi came close to Kurama and for about a minute they stood in silence observing one another.

Kurama was the first to speak.

"Thank you for saving me my lord" he said with a bow of his head.

Yomi blinked in acknowledge. He was starting to realize how attracted he was to the boy. The kitsune seemed to have a gentle nature but a strong spirit and a pleasant appearance.

"Come" Yomi said, "You must be tired. My palace is not far away from here. Come and have some rest. Maybe you would like to wash the dirt off and have something to eat" He said in a calm voice while gently guiding the kitsune with his right arm onto the path to the castle. The two were soon joined by Shura who knew to stay out of the conflict. They all headed towards the castle, Yomi being more pleased than he has been for quite some time.

---Oky,sorry for ze loooong wait but school is really killing me. Hope this chapter will keep up your interest towards the story. More about Kurama will be revealed in the next chapter. And won't Yomi have a surprise *chuckles*


	4. Chapter 4

In no time at all they arrived back at Yomi's palace.

"Yoda" Yomi called. His councilor came and starred at the new-comer. Kurama glanced a little around. The palace was huge and it made him feel so small.

"Please take my guest to the springs and make sure he has everything he needs to get cleaned." Yomi said gesturing to Kurama to follow Yoda.

Yoda bowed and led Kurama away.

Yomi smiled to himself. He had never expected this predicament after hearing about the riot in the slave camp. Which reminded him, he had to ask Kurama what had actually happened back there. He went to grab a book from his numerous bookcases located almost everywhere in the palace and sat down. He decided he would do some reading while Kurama was getting cleaned.

About an hour and a half had passed when he heard a murmur coming from towards the spring. A lot of the palace's workers had gathered and were staring at…

At that moment Yomi spotted a patch of something white moving. He closed his book and sat up only to be shocked at the sight. A quite scared silver kitsune was making his way towards him, guided b Yoda. When the kitsune got in front of him, Yomi found himself staring at the beautiful creature. The kitsune looked up at him and tried to gesture a smile. Realization struck Yomi. This was actually Kurama! He looked at the kitsune one more time. White hair, white fox ears, a white T-shirt and some blue pants. And a very noticeable, white tail. He looked like an angel…whit fox ears and tail of course.

Yomi smiled at Kurama and led him to his chambers. They sat down on chairs near a desk and talked.

"What happened in the slave camp?" Yomi asked quite curious.

Kurama sighed and his ears went back.

"It was my fault. I had a weak moment and one of the people who worked for the slave trader found out I was actually a silver kitsune instead if a brown one. He wanted to go and tell the slave-trader and I knew that if he found out he would have immediately try to sell me for huge profit. All the riot was caused by me. I managed to get a hold of the device that controlled our chips and destroyed it. It set all the demons free…"

Yomi stared a bit at Kurama. He could easily understand why the slave-trader thought he could sell the kitsune for quite a large sum of money. The boy was stunningly handsome.

"Do you have anywhere to go? Some family, relatives?" Yomi asked.

"No…"Kurama looked at him with sad eyes. "My family is gone…killed when I was little. I don't have a place to call home to go to…" the kitsune bowed his head and looked at the floor.

"You are more than welcome to live in my palace." Yomi said whit a small smile.

"No…I don't want to be a problem." Kurama said looking back at Gandara's king.

"Nonsense." Yomi said rising from his chair. "I'll have Yoda set you up a room. The whole palace is your home now. Feel free to walk around. We even have some beautiful gardens which I think you will enjoy." Yomi smiled knowing that kitsunes control plants and therefore love to be out in a green environment.

Kurama smiled back and thanked Yomi.

When the room was prepared Yomi led Kurama to it.

"My chambers are only a few door away. If you have any questions or problems or anything at all don't hesitate to come." Yomi said in a serious tone. He wanted the kitsune to know that he was there if there was ever any problem.

They parted and Yomi left for his own chambers. He sat down at the desk and pondered all he had found out in just a day.

"Who would have thought…"Yomi said to himself. "A silver kitsune…and a fighter as well. Brave…and clever. This boy is certainly something". Then Yomi realized he didn't know Kurama's age. He made a mental note to himself not to forget to ask the kitsune about this.

Soon, noon came and it was time for dinner. Yomi ate his meals at a long table, accompanied by his most important and loyal servants such as Yoda, and his general Shachi. His son Shura was also present and ate by his father's side. Kurama had also been invited to join the meal. The kitsune found himself seating right next to Yomi. All through the generally quiet meal, Kurama could see the others silently observing him. Rumours had spread that a beautiful kitsune was living in the palace. Everyone was curious to see and know who this stranger was. This did not bother Kurama much. He was used to being stared at due to the colour of his hair,ears and tail. But Kurama noticed that Yomi's general Shachi did not seem pleased at all by the kitsune's presence. He made this very cleary by giving the kitsune death glares every time he looked his way. This made Kurama feel quite awkward. He didn't know what he had done or what he could do.

In the meantime Yomi noticed that something was wrong. He could see Shachi glaring daggers at Kurama. His brows furrowed.

"Why is he so mad about Kurama being here?" The Gandaran king asked himself.

Suddenly a big crashing noise was heard and everybody turned to see a very angry Shachi standing up and leaning towards the kitsune. Kurama looked up from his meal and saw that Shachi was almost like a raging bull.

"I've had it with this, Yomi!" Shachi shouted looking at the king and pointing towards Kurama.

"He pops out of nowhere, turns out to be silver instead of brown and now he has the privilege of eating at our table and right next to you?"Shachi shouted turning to look back at the kitsune.

Kurama narrowed his eyes and his ears went back.

"This is not good." Yomi thought to himself getting up…

Oky. It's been quite a while since I last updated. School…is…a…killer…But I want to thank each and every one of you who have faved and commented on my story. It made me have it at the back of my mind almost constantly. And hey…I revealed what was with the weird colour of Kurama's hair and tail :D I hope I'll get the time to update again soon. :D


	5. Chapter 5

"Kurama is my guest, Shachi. And if I want him to eat by my side he will do so."Yomi said in a low, menacing tone, coming to stand behind Kurama's chair.

Shachi looked quite intimidated. He looked at Kurama one more time and sat down. Kurama watched how Yomi's general resumed eating his meal without looking at him. He let out a quiet breath he didn't know he was holding. He knew that he was quite weak momentarily and he wasn't in the position to fight. As Yomi sat down on his chair, Kurama gestured a smile to let the king now he was grateful. Yomi nodded in acknowledgement.

"So…Kurama…"Yoda said eyeing the kitsune."How old are you?"

"I'm 20." Kurama said having a spoon of soup.

Everybody stared at him.

"20?" Yomi asked shocked. "How can someone so young be on his own?"

"Well…I really don't have any family left" Kurama said looking down into his soup.

Yomi's eyes softened. He remembered that Kurama said his family had been killed. But still it was a rare thing for a demon so young to be able to fend for himself. Young demons would stay with their families until they were about 200 years-old and knew the basics about the Makai and what they should and should not do in order to survive. Kitsune families would actually form clans. Being demons that relied on speed, cunningness and cleverness, they lacked brute strength. They sought safety in numbers and the clan would try to prepare the kits for the Makai to ensure that many of them survived. Even after they ventured in the world, kits would go in numbers of 2 or more.

"You have my respect" a young demon at the table said."I wasn't able to look after myself until I was 215 years-old. And I had a lot of troubles even then."

"Yeah. Papa gets in trouble even now and he's 1157 years-old." Shura said smiling broadly at Kurama.

There was a bit of an awkward silence but then everyone burst out laughing. Everyone except Shachi who seemed to be deep in thought. Yomi laughed and smiled down at his son. But he couldn't help but notice that his general was quite concentrated on something.

"I'm going to have to get to the bottom of this quite soon." Yomi said to himself.

After the meal was over everyone left for their chambers. Yomi led Shura to their room and went to Kurama's. The kitsune was sitting on the ledge of the balcony, his legs dangling over the railway. The light of the full moon lit his handsome features and his hair and tail seemed to glow in the pale light. Yomi held his breath. Kurama had to be one of the most handsome demons he had ever seen in his long life. The Gandaran king sat on the railway next to the kitsune. Kurama looked up at him and smiled a sad smile.

"Is there anything wrong?" Yomi asked concerned.

"No. Everything is fine. I'm just tired." Kurama said sighing.

"That's no it." Yomi said facing the kitsune.

"Well…"Kurama started staring at his own feet.

"Kurama, you know you can and should tell me everything that's bothering you." Yomi said placing a reassuring hand on Kurama's back.

Kurama looked at him and decided it was better to talk.

"I…I really don't want to be a bother and cause problems. Your general doesn't seem too pleased about me being around and I saw that it caused quite a commotion and the table tonight. I think it would be best if I left."

"Kurama, don't let this incident bother you. There has been something strange going on with Shachi and I haven't been able to figure out what it is. I will have to talk to him in the near future and sort things out. The way he behaved today was certainly not worthy of my second in command." Yomi said looking up at the full moon. He glanced at the kitsune and saw that he was looking up at him with sad eyes.

"Don't worry about it." Yomi said patting Kurama on the back. "Come. It's time to rest." The Gandaran king added leading the kitsune towards the bed.

They parted for the night and Yomi went to his own chamber. Just as he was entering the room he spotted a shadow moving in the darker parts of the corridor. He paused a bit. He shrugged it off thinking it was one of the workers in the palace and turned in for the night.

Dawn came and the sun's rays awoke Yomi. He covered Shura with the entire blanket and went to get dressed. He wanted to go and check on Kurama. When he got at the door he noticed that something was wrong. It seemed that someone had forced the door. The king panicked and entered the room. He was shocked at what he saw. A battle seemed to have taken place in the room. The curtains were torn, the bed was a mess and looked like it had been stabbed by an angry mob and what was worse: Kurama was nowhere to be seen. Yomi's heart started pounding.

He went to the balcony and scanned the area. He saw a spot of white in one of the gardens. He jumped from the balcony right into the garden and ran to the area where the saw the spot. When he got there he sighed relieved. Kurama was peacefully sleeping in the tall grass. The flora seemed to have bloomed where the kitsune was and all the flowers and plants in the vicinity seemed to be leaning towards the kitsune in an almost protective manner. Yomi smiled and knelt down next to the sleeping kitsune. He gently shook the sleeping form and he could see Kurama waking up. His beautiful white haired seemed to have intertwined with the grass. Kurama blinked a few times and smiled slightly up at Yomi. Yomi chuckled. Kurama looked like a cute puppy with those sleepy eyes.

"Are you alright?" Yomi asked not wanting to alarm the kitsune.

"Mhmmm." Kurama answered but furrowed his brows. "Is there something wrong?"

"I want to show you something." Yomi said giving a hand to help Kurama get up.

The two of them went back to the palace and to Kurama's chamber. Kurama stared shocked at the huge mess.

"This is what I found this morning." Yomi said turning to look at the boy.

"I…I slept in the garden last night." Kurama said still shocked at the sight.

"You didn't see anything suspicious or didn't hear anything while you were still here?" Yomi asked.

"Not really. At a point I heard some noises outside the door but I thought that someone had something to work and I didn't dwell on the thought." Kurama answered looking into Yomi's eyes.

Yomi nodded.

"Go into my chamber and stay with Shura until I come." Yomi said guiding the kitsune towards his own chamber.

Yomi watched Kurama close the doors and descended to the lower floors of his palace. He went to Shachi's quarters. He found the demon in a heated discussion with another demon but the discussion stopped when the king entered the room. Yomi eyed the two demons and went closer to Shachi's desk.

"Shachi, your guards aren't doing their job properly." Yomi said quite angry.

"Last night someone tried to kill Kurama. Luckily the boy wasn't in his room."

At this last statement Shachi seemed to widen his eyes.

"This incident has come too soon after Shura was kidnapped. It's obvious there is a problem in your defensive program. If this doesn't change quickly I may have to look for a new second in command." Yomi said in a low tone.

"I understand my lord." Shachi said bowing his head but with angry eyes.

Yomi turned around and stormed out of the room.

"What's going on?" the Gandaran king asked himself. "First Shura and now Kurama…something weird is in the works."Yomi said as he pushed open the door to his chamber.

Kurama was sitting on the bed and was saying something that must have been really funny because Shura was rolling on the bed laughing whole-heartedly. The scene made Yomi smile. It was good to see the two having fun and it pleased Yomi to see that Shura had developed a close bond with the kitsune. His son stopped laughing and came worriedly towards Yomi.

"What's happening papa? It didn't use to be like this before." The boy said clenching his small fists into his father's sleeves.

"It's going to be alright." Yomi said patting his son's head and looking at Kurama.

"From now on, you are to stay by my side at all times." Yomi told the kitsune.

Kurama nodded.

The next few days passed without any incidents. Yomi took Kurama with him and the boy slept in the same room with him and Shura. This gave Yomi the opportunity to study the kitsune more. He had a slender body which was characteristic of all kitsunes. Maybe even a bit too slim. Nothing a bit of good food can't fix, the king said to himself. But Yomi was curious about the boy's powers. In his long life Yomi had not seen a kitsune fight at his full. It intrigued him and he proposed a training session. Kurama agreed. So, on a calm and sunny day Yomi led Kurama and Shura to the very forest where Yomi had saved Kurama from the demons that wanted to catch him.

"We'll train here. There's plenty of space." Yomi said eyeing the kitsune anxiously.

Kurama chuckled a bit. This was going to be interesting.

Ok. I had a bit more free time and managed to write another chapter which is a bit longer than the previous ones. I've already started working on the next one but I don't know when I'll be able to finish and post it.

Regarding the age of Yomi and Kurama: I've always felt that Yomi is the more mature one. He has age and wisdom as his strong points. On the other hand Kurama is lively and energetic. Youth and energy are his trademarks. So I'm thinking of the two completing each other like yin-yang. :)


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